Tiger Plumbing, Heating, Air Conditioning & Electrical Services

Managing 28 vehicles and technicians in a 160 square mile service area

The Company

Tiger Plumbing, Heating, Air Conditioning and Electrical Services provides sales, service and installation to residential customers throughout the Illinois side of the St. Louis metropolitan area. The company, founded in 1993, has technicians and other staff driving 28 vehicles throughout their service area.

Keeping track of technicians

The Challenge

According to Todd Kiefer, Tiger Services' General Manager, ‘Before purchasing the TomTom Telematics system, integrated with ServiceTitan, we were just guessing where our guys were at any given time.” Ensuring high levels of customer service was also a concern. “We wanted to give our office staff and the techs a tool that would help respond to customers who said we did not show up, or were late in arriving.’Tiger Services was also committed to improving its dispatching process. ‘We knew we weren’t always sending the closest tech, or that techs were going out of their way to come back to our warehouse when they needed a part,’ explained Kiefer. Finally, the company wanted to move away from dispatching jobs via calls and texts. This was an inefficient process, as it required the drivers either use a hands free system or pull over and use their mobile phones to get information on their next job.

The Solution

The integrated TomTom Telematics and ServiceTitan system provides complete visibility into where its vehicles are and what its technicians are doing. Dispatchers are also able to send jobs directly to the TomTom device in the vehicle. ‘We’ve moved to a much more efficient workflow throughout the day,’ said Kiefer. ‘We’re now able to dispatch techs within 10 miles of their last job, cutting way down on travel time and fitting in more jobs.’ He estimates that techs are able to complete two to three more jobs every day.

The company has also gone from 12 to 28 vehicles, to meet the demands of its growing business. Kiefer also reports improved workflow and better visibility as a result of the ‘auto-arrival’ feature enabled by the TomTom Telematics-ServiceTitan integration. Now, when a tech arrives within 100 yards of a job, the system automatically notes this – eliminating the need for them to inform dispatch.

This saves the tech time, and helps dispatch keep better track of what’s happening in the field.

The ability to see exactly where each technician is in real-time on ServiceTitan’s map has also improved the parts delivery process. Typically, if a technician found they needed a part during a job, they would call in to Tiger’s warehouse, and come pick it up, or another staff member would deliver it to them. Now, Kiefer can see exactly where the technician is located, and direct them to a parts supply store if that is closer and more efficient.

Because Tiger exclusively services residential customers, maintaining service windows is extremely important. ‘We’ve asked someone to stay home from work, or rearrange their day to wait for our technician, so we really want to stick to the two hour service windows we’ve provided,’ explains Kiefer. ‘TomTom Telematics and ServiceTitan have reduced errors and incidences of our techs arriving at the wrong address, helping us honor those commitments and keep customer satisfaction high.’ Having turn-by-turn directions – and the ability to monitor traffic and road closures has also helped drivers meet their customer service windows. Recently, when flooding took out a bridge on a main travel route, dispatchers were able to quickly alert and re-route all affected techs so that they were able to easily get to their next job with minimal delays.

Finally, TomTom Telematics’ OptiDrive 360 system has improved driving habits. Kiefer uses the OptiDrive 360 reports to keep technicians accountable for their driving and goes over any driving incidents – harsh braking or steering, speeding – with techs. They also acknowledge the technicians who are driving well in the weekly team meeting. ‘Each one of our vehicles on the road is a reflection of our company,’ said Kiefer. ‘So making sure our techs are driving safely is good business.’ Because Illinois is a hands-free state, it is important to note that with the combined ServiceTitan – TomTom Telematics solution, Tiger Services' technicians have no need to use their mobile devices. Their next job comes in directly to the TomTom Telematics PRO driver terminal. They simply press one button to start the job. They are routed to the right address, and the dispatch team back at the office is notified that they are on their way with an Estimated Time of Arrival.

With TomTom Telematics and ServiceTitan, Tiger Plumbing, Heating, Air Conditioning, & Electrical Services has improved efficiencies and grown the business. ‘I’d recommend TomTom Telematics and ServiceTitan to anyone,’ said Kiefer. ‘We saw our investments pay off right away. Not only has it lead to more jobs every day – but more revenue overall for our business.’